Sir Patrick Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles at 86. He was Captain Picard to one generation and Professor X to another, and his final performance is still a month away.
His publicist announced the death Thursday. The family said Stewart died after what they called a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, with his wife Sunny at his side, and asked fans to send memorial gifts to Alzheimer’s research and caregiver support instead of flowers.
“Sir Patrick brought Professor Charles Xavier to life with extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity, defining the character for generations of fans, from ‘X-Men’ to ‘Logan’ to ‘Avengers: Doomsday.'”
Marvel Studios
That last title is the news inside the news. Marvel confirmed Thursday that “Avengers: Doomsday,” which opens December 18, is Stewart’s final on screen appearance. He filmed it last year, back as Xavier next to Ian McKellen’s Magneto, 26 years after the two of them opened the first “X-Men” movie in 2000.
Stewart was a respected stage actor long before America knew his name. “Star Trek: The Next Generation” made him famous at 47 and ran seven seasons. He played Xavier across seven “X-Men” films, closed the Fox era with “Logan” in 2017, then came back for Marvel in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in 2022.
In his final interview, a few months ago, he said he could not imagine ever officially retiring, that he would always be an actor. He got his wish. The last word is his, on a movie screen, in December.
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